Akron Dropped By Kent State, 73-58, In Part One Of Wagon Wheel Challenge

Saturday, February 2

Kent, Ohio

2 PM

University of Akron

12-7, 3-5MAC

Kent State

11-8, 4-4MAC

Akron

Kent State

Photo by: Jeff Harwell

Akron Dropped By Kent State, 73-58, In Part One Of Wagon Wheel Challenge

February 02 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

KENT, Ohio– In part one of the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Wagon Wheel Challenge, Kent State picks up half a point in the standings for the Golden Flashes after defeating the Akron women's basketball team, 73-58, on Saturday afternoon inside the M.A.C Center in Kent, Ohio.

Akron now leads Kent State in the Wagon Wheel Challenge standings, 3.0-2.5 through seven events.

After the Akron offense started the contest firing on all cylinders shooting 61.5-percent from the field, the Zips cooled down as the game went on and ended the match-up shooting 32.3-percent (20-for-62) from the floor and went just 5-for-21 from long range. The Zips got a lot of offensive production from the free throw line making 13-of-16 at the charity stripe, in the interior scoring 28 of its 58 points in the paint, and scoring 10 points off second-chance opportunities courtesy of 12 offensive rebounds.

As a team, the Zips had three players score in double-figures, including juniors Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.), and redshirt senior Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio). Akron's point guard, Edmonds, tallied a team-high 15 points, including nine points in the first quarter. Reinoehl notched her 12^thdouble-digit scoring performance with 12 points while adding six rebounds, and one steal. Sefcik, the Zips leading scorer, was held to just 10 points and 3-of-16 shooting and without a three-pointer for the first time in 2018-19 and the first time in 21 games dating back to last season.

On the glass, junior Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds, including seven boards on the offensive end. Junior guard Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) again led the squad in assists dropping six dimes in the contest.

The first quarter between the Zips and Golden Flashes was an offensive clinic and battle of offensive runs from both sides.

Akron opened the contest on a 6-2 run with Edmonds scoring four quick points for the Zips. Kent State countered with a 9-5 advantage to knot the game up at 11 with 5:40 left to play in the first quarter.

After the Golden Flashes claimed a four-point advantage at the 2:15 mark, another Zips run made up of a three-pointer from the hand of freshman Colleen Neitzel (Rocky River, Ohio) and a pair of free throws from Reinoehl squared the game back up at 23 all.

At the end of the 10 minutes, KSU lead by just one point, 24-23. The Zips 23 points in the stanza are tied for the fourth-most points scored by Akron in a quarter this season. In the first period alone, there were five lead changes and the games was tied four times.

Akron and Kent State exchanged buckets back-and-forth in the first five minutes of the second quarter leading to a 32-32 score at the media timeout.

From that point on, KSU went on an 11-4 run in the final 6:42 of the half to claim a 41-34 advantage at the intermission.

At the halftime break, the Golden Flashes had a 9-to-4 advantage at the free throw line, the Zips outrebound KSU, 17-to-14, and Akron committed eight turnovers to Kent State's four.

The Golden Flashes came out of the break firing from long distance connecting on a trio of triples while the Zips went 1-for-4 from the floor. Kent State extended its lead to +12 (50-38).

After KSU extended its advantage to 15 points at the 6:20 mark of the quarter, Akron began its comeback into the contest before the lead grew out of reach. A 7-2 run cut the deficit to nine points in a two-minute span that included two free throws by Harmon and five straight points from Reinoehl. However, a three-pointer by Kent State with 28 seconds in the period brought its lead back to double digits heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

In a game that saw a lot of offense through three quarters, scoring was scarce in the final stanza with Akron and Kent State scoring a combined 19 points in the quarter. In the first five minutes of the period, only eight combined points were scored and the Zips had nailed the only field goal by either side.

With Kent State struggling to shoot the ball in the final period of play, Akron was able to inch its way back and cut the KSU lead to eight points (66-58) with 2:29 left to play. Sefcik knocked down four free throws and Vari scored her ninth point of the game after reeling in her seventh offensive rebound.

However, the Zips were hit by the cold bug in the final minutes of the period going 0-for-4 and a turnover. The Golden Flashes knocked down a trio of free throws and a pair of jumpers to close out the contest.

The Zips head to southeast Ohio on Wednesday, Feb. 6, to take on MAC East foe, Ohio University. Akron and the Bobcats are scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip-off inside the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.